Property Record
BARRON ISLAND, PETTIBONE PARK
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | City Bath House |
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| Other Name: | City Bath House |
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| Reference Number: | 33550 |
| Location (Address): | BARRON ISLAND, PETTIBONE PARK |
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| County: | La Crosse |
| City: | La Crosse |
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| Year Built: | 1925 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1996 |
| Historic Use: | bath house/restroom facility |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | Otto Merman & Skogstad |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | Main structure lighted by clerestory windows flanked by walled courtyards to either side. Black iron grilles and double leafed iron gable fill arched portal supported by Corninthian iron window grilles, round arched portal with red brick and tile "voussoir" articulation; massive open interior wooden beams. Ceramic tiles around the entrance provide decoration and relief from the large mass of wall. Formerly, the male and female dressing rooms were walled. Most of these walls were removed in 2001 during a restoration, but their absence doesn't hurt the building design. Located on the beach of Pettibone Park, and designed by Otto Merman during the 1920s era of fascination with the Mediterrean styles in America, the City Bath House is one of the few historic structures associated with community recreation maintaining its architectural character remaining in the city. The City Bath house is important because of its association with Pettibone Park. The bath house made the park useful for swimming, a national pastime in the 1920s. Bath houses along the upper Mississippi River were once common, but few remain today. The park was one of the most popular in the city. It was given to the city in 1890 by lumber baron A.W. Pettibone. It represents recreation and water based tourism and local interest. General contractor: Theo Molzahn. |
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| Bibliographic References: | La Crosse Tribune 11 June 1925, 14 June 1925, 21 July 1926. Blueprint and Commission List (pp. 374), P. Nelson Co., La Crosse, Wisconsin. Crocker, Leslie. La Crosse Buildings through Time. La Crosse: La Crosse Public Library Archives Department, 2015. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |